Drug deaths: ‘Scotland should decriminalise and dare Westminster to block it’
The death rate from overdoses in Scotland is 15 times above the European average and is approximately three-and-a-half times higher than the UK as a whole
Friday, January 15, 2021
Scotland should tackle its drug deaths crisis by pushing towards decriminalisation and daring Westminster to try to block it. The powers to decriminalise drug use or possession are currently reserved to Westminster but Michael Collins, a former director at the Drug Policy Alliance in the U.S., believes Scotland should follow the examples of US jurisdictions that faced down the White House to tackle their own crises. He cites the examples of cannabis reforms in Colorado and Washington, and Oregon, which voted to decriminalise the possession of heroin and other hard drugs in favour of advocating addiction recovery centres, despite federal opposition. “I think one of the things the Scottish Government has to do is recognise that it has a lot of ability to push the envelope right now.”
